MS - Alexandria "Ally" Kostial, 21, Ole Miss student, found dead, Harmontown, 20 July 2019 *ARREST*

[borndem]

I think they might surprise everyone by being tough on him. Oxford is a small town and tight knit community, one where situations like this are rare and cause major shockwaves. I would not be surprised if they made an example out of him to help deter individuals from potentially making the same decision.

They could always bring in a jury from a different town for the trial, or get a change of venue... Assuming this can be done in Mississippi.
The big buck brings luck... Grrr.
This kind of reminds me of the "Affluenza kid" in Texas, IIRC.

 

[Soccermom5]

I live close-ish to Oxford and know a lot of people from the community and when Ally was found shot 8 times, everyone thought it was gang-related. Shooting someone can be really impersonal and gangs like to make sure you’re 100% dead. The cases we tend to see with men killing a woman he was romatically involved with/overkill are usually more personal: strangling, stabbing, beating, etc. It may be that Theesfeld was too small (5’7) to successfully take poor Ally down this way. If he had dropped the evidence in Memphis and it had been found, this case would’ve been way more difficult. “We got into a fight in the car so I dropped her off in a sketchy area of Sardis. I feel terrible/stupid now for doing it but she demanded to get out of the car. I wish I had just made her stay in the car *fake tears*”. We are SO LUCKY law enforcement got to him before he could dump the evidence in Memphis. The fast work of the Mississippi cops of figuring out who she was with and their immediate informing of Memphis police is a shining beacon when often cases are ruined by ineffectual police work.

We discussed this at dinner tonight and my friend said they were caught on the video at the store at x time and he wasn’t arrested until Monday morning...plenty of time for the Farese team to come up with a plausible other story like you mentioned...hopefully there will be other forensic evidence tying him directly to the scene...

 

[borndem]

Welcome to Websleuths,
vibinnthrivin !!
​

 

[MemPat]

Now Theesfeld has got a heavy-duty attorney --

Attorneys already developing defense in Brandon Theesfeld’s case
Attorneys already developing defense in Brandon Theesfeld’s case

I dread the stories about Ally's personal life making it into the public conversation.
<<modsnip - info stated as fact instead of opinion>

Brandon appears so very guilty just based on what we do know.
Imagine how bad he's going to look when the text messages are made public. I expect the Fareses will work hard to prove them inadmissible. Same with the cell records.

<modsnip- see above>

 

[Seattle1]

Seems like store owner unsure what evidence if any saved on his surveillance footage taken by LE......

Ally Kostial murder at Ole Miss: 'You never expect something like that in Oxford'

OXFORD — Even when most students at the University of Mississippi are away for the summer, a small pizza and daiquiri bar on the Oxford Square feels like a party.

Funky's defining features include dim lights, loud music and and a rainbow array of slushies with names like "Eye Candy" and "190 Octane." There, it seems the bartenders know many customers by name.

It was one of the last places Ole Miss student Ally Kostial was seen in public. The next morning, patrolling deputies found the 21-year-old's body, punctured with gunshot wounds, in a secluded area about 30 miles from Oxford.

Two days later, 22-year-old Brandon Theesfeld ⁠— Kostial's classmate, and by the accounts of some of her friends, an on-again, off-again boyfriend ⁠— was booked into the local jail and charged with murder.

[...]

Some news outlets reported security cameras caught Kostial on tape early Saturday morning, near where her body was found. Footage reportedly shows Kostial with a man who appears to be Theesfeld at a convenience store in the Harmontown area.

Arafat Niji, has owned Lakeside Market for about 10 years. He said on Sunday deputies showed up at his store and asked to review his surveillance tapes.

Niji said the investigators didn't explain why they were there and took some evidence with them when they left.

The video gets deleted every 72 hours, so there's no way to go back to see what the cameras caught, Niji said.

The business owner said, "We've never had any problem or any murder case. It's a small town. It's quiet. Everybody knows each other. It's just crazy."

It's unclear what the footage from Lakeside Market shows and what it means for the investigation. Law enforcement has clammed up. The Lafayette Sheriff's Office is refusing to release any additional information or do media interviews. bbm

Some critical questions and remain unanswered by officials sources, including the one that's on the top of everybody's mind: Why did someone do it?

Rocky Kennedy, Lafayette County coroner, said there's a reason officials are not saying much.

"It’s not a story for everybody to see until it goes to court and goes to trial," he said. "Some of the sensitive details in this case… (are) instrumental to make sure this person who committed this crime is tried and convicted and serve an applicable sentence or punishment and held responsible for what they did."

 

[borndem]

We discussed this at dinner tonight and my friend said they were caught on the video at the store at x time and he wasn’t arrested until Monday morning...plenty of time for the Farese team to come up with a plausible other story like you mentioned...hopefully there will be other forensic evidence tying him directly to the scene...

IIRC, LE found a weapon in his vehicle, right? And blood on his clothes?
If so, I hope the evidence and the suspect were handled absolutely and totally by the book -- I'm not saying this wasn't done, not at all -- it's just that he's apparently got a super-duper defense team now, etc., etc., and justice needs to be served to all involved.

 

[MemPat]

<modsnip - quoted post was removed>

Detectives speak often of how a person inexperienced with murder can go about the crime thinking he's thought everything through, yet there comes this point where he goes bat-poop-crazy (my word; not theirs) and makes a thousand silly mistakes. When they confront him with the errors, he's just stunned and often confesses. (Of course, Brandon was lawyered up with ole Swayze and then the Fareses pretty quickly.)

I'll bet the list of mistakes made by this drunken punk is endless and that car is probably covered with Ally's DNA, maybe on bottles proved to be purchased from the store near Sardis that day. His affluence made him even less concerned about getting caught than the average criminal. MOO

 

[Lulu45]

There are people that have said that they never saw BT sober. This kid may have been doing both drugs and alcohol. I truly believe that he could have blacked out on more than one occasion and not remembered a thing.

I'm not saying that happened on this occasion because how could you hit your target several times if you are totally that messed up?

I know that back in the day, when I was a total idiot, I probably blacked out at times when I didn't remember things that I did. I'm not proud of the fact; and, by the grace of God, I never hurt anyone and never killed myself or was murdered.

I'm 180 degrees different than that today; however, I was an idiot back in the day. I will be the first person to admit it.

<modsnip - making a generalized statement without proof>

<modsnip - implying inside info>
if cocaine was a factor, would it cause rage? More worrying, would a drug problem be a defense and would rehab be a means to get a reduced sentence? I am not at all implying that Ally had any type of drug issue. I’m merely speculating about Brandon’s behavior. First time poster, so I apologize if I’ve misunderstood the rules of posting. I live in South MS and went to grad school at Ole Miss.

 

[borndem]

I think impulsive, and maybe he thought he would have time to flee before they found her, or thou

Hmm. If the reason I’ve heard for him killing her is true, she wasn’t rejecting him, but perhaps rather trying to hold him accountable for something.

bbm
Agree. We may not have the same reason for it, but I agree. Suddenly she became a liability instead of an asset, and that wasn't good for her. He was ready to move on, so he did it the quickest way he could.
Shots to the body and abdomen make me wonder...
Whatever it was, she's gone from her own and everyone else's lives.

 

[borndem]

You would think, the first thing a murderer would do, is remove his 'blood stained' clothing, and get rid of the weapon.
Thank goodness for phones, as he was being tracked.

He was either whoppin' drunk or is whoppin' stoopid.
Or both.

 

[Gardenista]

<modsnip> if cocaine was a factor, would it cause rage? More worrying, would a drug problem be a defense and would rehab be a means to get a reduced sentence? I am not at all implying that Ally had any type of drug issue. I’m merely speculating about Brandon’s behavior. First time poster, so I apologize if I’ve misunderstood the rules of posting. I live in South MS and went to grad school at Ole Miss.

Glad you joined us. No doubt cocaine has been used during many murders. The one that comes to mind right now is the Joey Communale murder

Night of booze, cocaine lead up to Stamford man’s killing

 

[borndem]

Got it. I hope he is nailed. No amount of money can help someone dead in the water...

Poor Ally.

bbm
True, but they can possibly wangle it to a lesser charge, such as manslaughter, or whatever the charge might be in Mississippi -- or something ridiculously lenient.

Mississippi Felony Crimes by Class and Sentences

• Capital murder – life in prison with or without parole or the death penalty.
• Murder – life in prison.
• Manslaughter – a fine not less than $500 or up to one year in jail, or both, or up to 20 years in prison.

Mississippi Felony Crimes by Class and Sentences

 

[borndem]

Welcome to Websleuths,
Mrs Parrott !!​

 

[Soccermom5]

Do we know their living situations? I'm assuming they were in apartments at this stage of their college careers and during the summer, but is that a correct assumption? Did they need to go to the lake for privacy - did they ever meet at each other's places instead? I know they might have roommates, but perhaps had their own bedrooms? Or did they go to that location as a habit when they wanted time together?

jmo

They both lived in apartments. she definitely had a room mate or room mates..not sure about him..I mentioned this earlier...they didnt live in the dorms (which are not coed anyway)...so why didnt they just go to his place?? I always wondered if her roommates knew of their volatile/complicated relationship and didn’t approve?? People did go to Sardis to hang out..but it was awful late to make a drive out there??

 

[squareandrabbet]

They don't know. I'd say, if they have a propensity towards violence when they drink, there might be a chance of it. If they wake up with blood on their clothes, that would be a clue.

I once read a book on alcoholics and treatment. The author had seen and supervised a lot of AA groups, etc., and said that a non-alcoholic would not believe how many alcoholics have told the story of drinking and driving after a big bender; only to tiptoe out to the garage the next morning, heart in throat, to make sure there are no dents, signs of blood, etc. in the grillwork of the car.

 

[Soccermom5]

Thanks for the info on the attorney -- the kid needs somebody standing up there with him at this early stage.
But, of course this kid is gonna need more than a DUI attorney -- at least that's what the ad says. Maybe the atty. knows a good one. Maybe this guy has gotten him out of trouble in the past, or someone recommended him to his dad.
He's gonna need an expensive murder attorney that ought to cost about a quarter million, IMO.

His family hired someone equivalent to OJ’s dream team....The Farese family. Big time attorneys...first call I would make if i was charged with murder. They got Mary Winkler off after killing her husband...they are very well known in TN & MS...very well connected in Oxford too.

 

[Soccermom5]

IIRC, LE found a weapon in his vehicle, right? And blood on his clothes?
If so, I hope the evidence and the suspect were handled absolutely and totally by the book -- I'm not saying this wasn't done, not at all -- it's just that he's apparently got a super-duper defense team now, etc., etc., and justice needs to be served to all involved.

Yes, exactly...and I wouldn’t be surprised if this arrogant kid talked too much on the drive from Memphis back to the jail in Oxford.

 

[borndem]

We talked about this yesterday early in the thread. The building is a fishing camp, not abandoned but not intended for constant use. The lake is created by an Army Corps of Engineers dam for flood control so the level rises and falls based on the need to hold water back from the Mississippi River & the Delta. Now it is high because the whole Lower Mississippi system is high. When the lake is low a lot of the current lake bottom is exposed and people drive ATVs in the mud. It’s summer so people go down there to fish, drink, smoke, take drugs, make out, and/or the other things that people do in secluded places with water and woods. It’s the kind of place young people go to do what they wouldn’t do in a more public place. All those things make it a spot for the deputy to check out as he is driving around.

Wow, thanks for that into -- sounds like that area may have been high on LE's list to investigate.
Can you imagine their sadness and surprise when they found her? I would think some of the LE have daughters, g-daughters, etc., around her age. SMH.

 

[borndem]

Welcome to Websleuths,
Ebeth878 !!​

 

[borndem]

ITA. None whatsoever.

Another Narcissistic sociopath, IMO.